Speed Dating
by PandoraJ
Summary: Trying to get over her forever long crush, after many failed attempts, Annabeth decides to try another method of finding someone else to put her interest in. It was totally lame but she had to do something. She couldn't take another day of her roommate and her crush being together; one of the worst pains she had ever felt. Then he walked into her life, but for better or worse?
1. Prologue

**_Hello! Welcome new readers and (hides under table) welcome back returning readers. So I know I haven't been active for- looks at calendar and watch- more than 2 months...but I have been having a breakthrough with a bunch of new story ideas!_** _ **YAY! Anyway. Sorry guys, I truly am. Unless you were one of the MANY and may I say ALL of the people who gave me absolute crap reviews from my other two stories. Not ONE nice review. NOT ONE! But I'm not here to yell.**_

 _ **Please, enjoy! Oh, and review!**_

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~Prologue~

Percy Jackson.

What about him made her heart flutter? Annabeth didn't know.

The more time they spent together, the more she wanted to be with him.

So what was it about this green-eyed, black haired boy that made her want to jump up and down.

Well, he always made her laugh and his looks could have help him out as well, but Annabeth never really took looks into account. She felt that it wasn't right to fall in love with someone based off of what they looked like.

A clatter from the bathroom in her college apartment sounded and filled Annabeth's bedroom, where she resided.

Annabeth went back to thinking about him. It was totally wrong, thinking of him all the time, but who wouldn't want to.

Annabeth heard a knock at the door of her apartment and a small panicked squeal was heard. Annabeth got up, almost a little too quickly.

When she got to the door, she fixed her hair and made sure her dress was straight and it didn't look like she had been study in her bed all day. She opened the door.

It was Percy, of course. He was expected. Annabeth put on a brilliant smile as she looked at the boy in a grey dress shirt(her favorite color) and black dress pants. The bouquet of red roses held away from his chest stood out against his warm grey shirt and they smelled freshly picked.

"Hey Annabeth." Percy smiled.

"Hey Percy." Annabeth replied.

"You look…great." He said, rubbing his neck. Annabeth could have sworn she saw his cheeks turn a bright pink, maybe even to the deep red of the roses in his hands.

"As do you."

"Thanks." Percy said. They talked for a few more minute in the doorway and for a second, as they both laughed from yet another joke that Percy had told, Annabeth felt that maybe this could work, that maybe she was meant to be with Percy and that he loved her, but then Percy's eyes shifted and looked past Annabeth.

"Ready to go?"

"Definitely." Came the reply. Annabeth blinked but didn't let her smile waver as Rachel, her roommate walked out from behind her and up to Percy, kissing his cheek.

"Oh these flowers are beautiful, thank you Percy." She hugged him and gave him another kiss.

"Oh it was nothing." Percy replied handing them to her.

"Annabeth can you put these in a vase for me? Thank you." She said looking into his eyes dreamily and shutting the door before Annabeth could protest, but one last group of words slipped in from the hallway.

"Bye Annabeth."

Annabeth finally dropped her smile and she blinked her eyes multiples times, trying to hold back tears. She looked at the flowers in her hands, wishing they had been for her rather than Rachel. She placed them in a vase filled halfway with water and put them on the counter. She looked at them again then turned and walked towards the couch, where she fell face first into the cushions. She grabbed a pillow and clutched it, laying in a fetal position. She closed her eyes and let a single tear fall from one of them.

"Goodbye Percy."

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 _ **So...how was it? If you are new, I usually write a lot more than this. Like maybe 5,000-9,000 words. Please check out my other stories, especially Forbidden Love and a Forgotten Past. That one is the best so far. I think you'll like it.**_

 _ **Thanks ~PandoraJ (VictoryD) (Changed the name, sorry, not sorry)**_


	2. Troublemakers

_**Okay, so I update one of my older stories. Here you go. New chapter.**_

 _ **Now for the part that takes me 10 minutes. Thank you to:**_ _ **The reviewers :**_

 _ **IIII Winter Wolf IIII: Thank you.**_

 _ **XxDarkDalekXx: Sorry for the wait, here's chapter 1.**_

 ** _PunksNotDeadYouAre: It's definitely a Percabeth story. I think you'll find this chapter will somewhat satisfy your Percabeth feels. You might think Percy is sketchy by the end but it's all part of the plan. ;)_**

 ** _johncahill: I'm glad you enjoyed it._**

 _ **The followers : :_(**_

 ** _The Favoriters : _****_:_(_**

 ** _The story followers : Bolle Accidentali, IamElizaBennet, Soccerfan2014, PUGA1414, I'm Not A Princess, PunksNotDeadYouAre, LisaBriley, _****_johncahill_**

 ** _The story favoriters : _****_PunksNotDeadYouAre, laura. stone2003 (Sorry, wouldn't save your name without a space)_**

 ** _Enjoy and review!_**

 ** _Oh and if anyone (especially guests) if you want to be updated about my stories, I made a tumblr (I know It's lame to ask you guys). If you guys want to check it out I'm taking requests for stories and there will be pictures, my own and if you want to send me any, otherwise yeah._**

 ** _So go to tumblr: pan-dorablejackson .tumblr .com (No spaces, it's all one, but it wouldn't save if it was all together, but keep the dash, that's in there)_**

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Chapter 1.

"Annabeth! Wake up!"

"Huh, what?" She bent over to look at my face, examining it.

"Have you been crying." I rubbed my tired, teary eyes.

"Just allergies."

"You've got some extreme allergies then. Anyway, look what Percy got me!"

"Tell me it's not-" I sat up, hoping not to see what I thought it would be. I exhaled in thankfulness. Well now I know what to be thankful for when Thanksgiving comes around.

Percy didn't propose to Rachel.

"Tell you it's not what?"

"Nothing, go on."

"We went to a carnival and he won me this huge bear! Come look! It's in my room." She hopped up. Regardless of me being totally against seeing the bear Percy gave to Rachel, I got up and followed. It was about half her height, not that I was any taller, and it was pretty big, but I still remember mine.

Percy once took me to a carnival, as a friend of course, and he had won me one even bigger. Those were the days. I looked at the clock.

"That's nice Rachel. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep before we have to get up early-this morning actually."

"What? Don't you want to hear about my date?"

"No, not really."

"Savage." She teased as I walked out of the room.

"It would have been 'Savage' if I said, 'No, not at all.' like I wanted to." I mumbled. It was half past one and I didn't feel like hearing mushy crap that I didn't want to hear in the first place. I went back to the living room, grabbed my sympathy pillow that was wet from tears, and basically dragged myself onto my bed. She came in after me.

"Hey, so I was thinking, maybe one day, you and your boyfriend could double date with Percy and I."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Well for one, I don't have a boyfriend, Rachel. Two, why would I want to see you and Percy getting all...ugh." She was quiet for a little, then her mouth opened again.

"I know what to do. Tomorrow night I'm taking you out."

"What? Where?" I yawned.

"You'll see." She smiled and left my room. I shook my head and let it hit the pillow. The next thing I know, it's time for class.

Class went by so fast, since the whole time I tried to get Percy and Rachel's date out of my mind. As the teacher droned on about something, I couldn't help but think back to when I was younger.

Percy and I had met many years before. He enrolled into my school in seventh grade. He tried to make friends but most of the kids teased him because he was short, read slower because of his dyslexia, couldn't sit still because of his ADHD and he always had blue cookies in his lunch.

I was the first friend he made.

We grew close very fast and his mother had even suggested (subtly) that she couldn't wait until I joined the Jackson family. But my mom hated him. I never really knew why, but I didn't care. Together, Percy and I would get into so much trouble. We would go to fairs, play games, be the class clowns (although after a few years I decided good grades came before being funny, college and all), even ride our bikes to go to the ice cream shop downtown. As much as moving from New York to California seems pretty easy, it wasn't for him. After our high school graduation something changed. Percy was never around and if he was, he was always busy. I didn't know we had even gotten into the same college until he showed up at my door the first day.

"Percy?"

"Annabeth?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, giving him a hug. He embraced me too.

"I go to college here."

"Well, so do I, but what are you doing here? At my door? In the girl's dorm?" He let go of me and rubbed his neck.

"I came to see…" His voice faded out and I could tell he didn't want to say anything.

"Percy!" My red-headed roommate screamed. As soon as she did, I let down my head, turning away from the hallway.

Rachel was Percy's, yet I was his partner-in-crime. His best friend.

"Annabeth?"

"The answer is 20." I replied out of reflex. The teacher gripped her yardstick, then pointed to me.

"And why is that?" I shifted my eyes and looked at the board behind her.

"Corresponding angles are equal to one another if they cross with two parallel lines." The teacher walked closer to me and looked me in the eyes.

"You may have gotten it right this time, but next time you may not be so lucky." She turned and walked back to the board. I rolled my eyes and looked outside. Anything would be better than this class right now.

Well, except maybe back in my dorm where Percy would pick up Rachel for another date.

I sighed and rested my head in my hand. Before I knew it, the bell rang and I grabbed my stuff.

"Annabeth, could you please stay after for a minute? I want to talk to you." I sat back down in my seat and looked out the window again, rolling my eyes. I know I have to pass this Geometry class to become an architect but this teacher was getting on my nerves and it's only been a week.

"I couldn't help but notice you seemed distracted today." I glanced at her.

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed, turning my attention back to the outside world.

"Boy trouble?" I turned back to her but stayed quiet.

"Well if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. You're dismissed." She turned to walk to her desk and before she even sat down, I was out of the room. As I left, my eyes began to sting. I could feel tears trying to spill over my eyelids as I walked down the hall. That's when I felt a hard force move against me.

"Sorry. Gosh, I'm such a clutz."

"It's fine. I-" I sniffed and wiped my eyes. I started to hurriedly pick up my books.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" I looked up and noticed that Percy was inches away from my face, looking deep into my eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I began to pick up my things again and we both reached for the same book. Our hands connected.

"Annabeth." I looked up again. He wiped a tear that was running down my face with his thumb. He pulled me into a hug and we kneeled there for a few minutes, just holding each other.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked after I caught my breath.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Maybe later."

"When did you start wearing make-up?" He laughed. He must have been trying to lighten the mood.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mascara is smeared." I touched my eyelid. When I brought my hand into my view, I cursed.

"Rachel! I need to start locking my door at night." Percy just laughed. Seeing this put me in a better mood.

"Good, I thought you were turning into a girly-girl on me, _Wise Girl_." I didn't realize how much I missed our old childhood nicknames. I messed up his already messy hair and threw his nickname at him.

"Believe me, _Seaweed Brain_ , nothing much has changed since high school." We laughed again and started cleaning up my books. He gave me my books and rubbed the back of his neck. We said goodbye and I started walking away.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah Seaweed Brain?"

"I'm sorry." This threw me off. What had he done that caused him to think he should apologize?

"For what?"

"After high school, I kinda let you slip out of my reach." What did he mean by "slip out of his reach"? It sounded like I meant something more to him than "just friends". "Slip out of my reach" like "I should have never let you go"? As in if we were in a relationship, "I never should have broken up with you" type of deal? Did I mean something to Percy, as in more of a friend way?

All of this came to me at once and I'm pretty sure my face turned red.

"Percy-"

"No. I'll walk you back to your dorm. Maybe on the way we can get some lunch or something."

"Percy, I have another class."

"So do I. That's not stopping me." I didn't really have to think about it. Even if Percy would have let me go to class, I would have skipped it.

"Alright."

First, Percy and I went downtown and sure enough, we found an ice cream shop, just like the one we used to go to when we were kids. Next, we travelled around for a few hours in the woods that was by a park a mile away from our college. When it was around five in the afternoon, we were going to head back to our dorms when we saw the carnival a little farther down.

"Let's go!"

"Percy. It's five already, we have homework and don't you think Rachel might want to know where you've been?"

"She'll be fine. Come on." He yelled as he ran to the carnival. He held on to my hand and pulled me along. We went on rides until our brains felt like that they were going to burst so we went to get some drinks.

"I have to tell you Annabeth, when I came to California, I thought, damn. How am I going to make friends. Then you started crushing on me and I was like, "This girl, right here, is going to be forever". And I was right. Look, your cheeks are turning red." I swatted his hand away from my face.

"Excuse me? You were the one crushing on me. You sat behind me your first day and smelled my hair. You played with it nonstop."

"It was soft and smelled like the sea. You know how much I love the sea. Oh the sea."

"How many of those did you have?"

"I stopped counting after two. ADHD and all."

"Alright let's go." We got up but he stumbled around. Walking probably wasn't the best idea. We also travelled a lot farther than I though, about two miles. I called for a cab and we both climbed into the back seat. He rested back like he was a rich man lounging in a limousine. I rolled my eyes and shut the door. I told the driver the addresses of our dorms and focused on Percy. He was watching me.

"I missed you Annabeth."

"What?"

"During the summer. I wish I could have hung out with you more."

"It's alright Percy."

"No, I left you behind. You and your pretty face."

"Percy, you think I'm pretty?"

"I think you're beautiful."

"Percy?"

"Huh?"

"What did you mean when you said that I would be forever, when you first met me?"

"I always liked you Annabeth. I still do, but I just didn't have the guts to tell you. Now I'm dating Rachel. I knew you would be there for me forever if I was there for you." I smiled.

"I'll always be there for you Percy."

"Annabeth, come closer." He whispered.

"What?" I said, I was about a foot away from his head.

"Closer." Six inches.

"Closer." He said. He gently pulled my head to his chest and I settled into him. I could hear his heart thumping in this chest, telling me he was alive, and he was here. It calmed me. I snuggled into his chest even more, rubbing his chin, chest and neck.

He was drunk, he wouldn't remember it anyway.

"Annabeth." Percy whispered. I moved my head so I could see his face.

"D-do you like me?"

"I guess you won't remember this anyway. Of course Percy. I think I started falling for you in eighth grade. It was about a year later. I got used to you and then we did a bunch of fun stuff that summer. That was probably what started it. Yeah, when your mom took us to the beach that summer, we swam far out and then you jumped off of some rocks and landed on me. We accidently kissed underwater." I smiled at the memory and grew red.

"Yup, that was the first day I wanted to become Mrs. Jackson." He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.

"I remember that day. I pretended that you were a beautiful mermaid and I, your handsome prince. I think I was slipping and didn't want to look stupid slipping on rocks so I made it into a jump, but I'm glad I did. That kiss, I'll never forget. It's my favorite part of our childhood."

"Mine too."

"We're here." The cab driver called. He looked back in the mirror but then looked back to the front.

"Oh I meant for you to go to the boy's dorm first."

"No, this is fine. I want to walk you in. Please?"

"Fine." I gave in. He stumble around again but it was better than before. We were walking up the stairs, just about to open the door to my level when Percy grabbed my wrist and whirled me around into a kiss. It was like I always imagined it but better, minus the taste of beer.

"I had to do it. Just once." He said, resting his forehead on mine.

"Maybe...just one more time?" I asked. His second kiss was his answer. It was at least a solid twenty sweet seconds of Percy. We smiled and laughed like little kids on laughing gas, then he walked me to my door quietly. After all, Rachel was his girlfriend and my roommate. I told him to take the elevator down to the bottom floor, then gave him one last kiss. When he was safely in the elevator, I opened the door. It was eight-thirty. Rachel was sitting on the couch.

"Where have you been? We need to get to the place I was going to take you before nine."

"Rachel, I'm tired and-"

"What made you so tired. If you would rather tell where you were all day, then go ahead. I'll bother you if you don't and you know it. Have fun sleeping if you don't." The sarcasm in her voice was definitely noticeable.

"I have homework."

"No excuses. Come on."

"Fine." I sighed.

~Percy's pov~

"Alright, to the guys dorms then?"

"Yes sir."

"Hey, weren't drunk like five minutes ago?"

"Nope. Just good acting."

"So you confessed to her that you love her, now what?"

"I just have to let everything play out. Oh, and if you happen to ever drive her anywhere ever again, could you maybe not say anything. It's kinda something I want to keep a secret."

"Sure thing, but what do you plan on doing?"

"Well..."

* * *

 _ **What's going to happen!? So I wasn't going to write it like this but once you begin to write, the story usually doesn't go your way. It's okay though, this idea is better, I assure you.**_

 _ **I'm so excited for you guys! Don't forget to review!**_

 _ **Bye. ~PandoraJ**_


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